Harry Hallman Hallman was born in 1944 and raised in the Kensington section of North Philadelphia. His father was Harry Hallman, Sr., a champion billiards player who also owned a poolroom called Circle Billiards, located at Allegany Avenue and Lee Street. The younger Hallman spent many hours after school at his father's pool hall. These youthful experiences laid the groundwork for his novel Mercy Row, including the colorful language in the text. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force, including two tours in South Vietnam as a photographer. He is married to Duoc Hallman, whom he met in Vietnam, and has two children, Bill and Nancy, and one grandchild, Ava. Hallman is a serial entrepreneur who has created several marketing services companies and continues to work as a marketing consultant. "My favorite possession, from my childhood, is a baby book my sister gave my mother (Florence) when I was born. There is a passage in this book, written by my mother in 1991 when I was 47, that seems to sum up what I have endeavored to be all my life. It reads, 'Bud [my childhood name] grew up to be a great boy and man. Gruff, but a heart as big as could be.'